Nasarawa lands and 2015 budget

Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the state governor, was reported to have described the project as the “cash cow”, before an array of dignitaries and partners in the project which has earned the state a place among sophisticated societies of the world because of the technologies deployed for the implementation. These partners are: Sonny Agassi, a former […]

Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the state governor, was reported to have described the project as the “cash cow”, before an array of dignitaries and partners in the project which has earned the state a place among sophisticated societies of the world because of the technologies deployed for the implementation. These partners are: Sonny Agassi, a former commissioner in charge of Lands and Urban Development Ministry, supervisor of the project; Alhaji Usman Ibrahim Jibrin the project manager; Roland Klaus, General Manager of GIS Transport and GIS specialist; Heiko Howy; Peter Ritchie, a senior Marketing Consultant; as well as Mario Hasan Bajouk, who is a consultant on ICT.
The governor said the project is a dependable source of revenue, recalling how the funds generated from its implementation in the last three years have saved the state in rainy day.
“It’s worthy of note that when we came on board in 2011, the state generated only N34 million from land administration. But with the reform, the revenue shot up to N317 million in 2012, N448 million in 2013 and 608 million in 2014,” Al-Makura said.
“NAGIS is the cash cow of the state. The revenue it generates facilitates the provision of basic infrastructure in the state. The building is a signature of the government’s commitment to high standards of infrastructural development given its world class facility that can stand the test of time,” he said.
In one day alone, 186 new Certificates of Occupancy (CsofO) entered the Out-Files on the desk of Sonny Agassi, after being signed by Al-Makura some weeks before the commissioning. The new certificates then left for Mararaba, the gateway to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the key location in the state, where the operational complex of NAGIS is for onward award to various property owners.
In the late days of 2013, the governor himself held a ceremony where certificates were issued to applicants, most of whom had applied for the lands document in the days of the old Plateau State, from where Nasarawa was carved out later on October 1, 1996. The applicants, most of them aged now, told their stories about how they had waited a lifetime for the document, and had already given up on it.
Under previous governments, certification of lands was tied down, with only personalities with good connection with Government House could get theirs. NAGIS, a first world order project which has computerized lands management and administration, in its three years of execution, introduced the recertification of property, phasing out the old and bogus certification where the governor’s signature appeared in not less than 16 places. In Nasarawa, as is with many states, land title was a function of one’s connection with Government House, a development which saw only above 600 CsofO in the hands of privileged property owners since state creation, close to two decades on.
Records in the lands ministry show that a total of 713 certificates have been issued to property owners through NAGIS, between 2013 and now. The records show the two military administrations between October 1, 1996 and May 29, 1999 issued 310 certificates in all. Abdullahi Adamu, who governed for two terms as the first indigenous leader, issued 214 certificates between 1999 and 2007. Aliyu Akwe Doma, who governed for one term, issued 24 certificates between May 29, 2007 and May 29, 2011. The total number of certificates issued by the three previous administrations is 548, whereas Al-Makura signed and issued 713 in less than two years.
Budgetary contributions
The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) that streams from this project to fund the implementation of budgets has earned this sub-sector the nickname of “Petro-Dollar Ministry.” The state’s budget for the 2015 fiscal year has just been passed by state House of Assembly (NSHA) and is awaiting the governor’s assent to become law. From this sum, the state expects the sum of N108.1 billion, both on recurrent matters, and capital projects.
Of this sum, the state has proposed to generate N13,327,600,000 from 15 internal revenue bases including Lands and Urban Development.
Records obtained from the revenue office of the state show that while the 14 other internal revenue sources are expected to contribute the sum of N11.730 billion to the overall IGR expected to fund the budget this year, lands sub-sector alone is billed to plough in N1.597 billion, representing 11.987 percent of the IGR.
Of the sum proposed to stream in from lands alone, the sum of N150 million is expected to come from charges on lands documents including Rights of Occupancy (RsOfO), Recertification and Confirmation as well as premiums on CsOfO.